Thursday, April 21, 2011

Extreme???

So, who else is completely addicted to the show Extreme Couponing on TLC? I have to admit that not only am I addicted....I am obsessed! Sure, in the past I have seen the occasional Facebook post from a friend, attaching a picture of groceries and boasting about how little they spent on them. Yes, I was intrigued, but after seeking information online, I quickly wrote off the whole 'coupon game'.

Until now.

Thanks to a good friend's advice and a renewed sense of I-can-do-this-ness, I have re-entered the land of the coupon...and IT. IS. ADDICTIVE.

Now, I am not nearly as skilled as those extreme couponers you see on television- remember, I am just a baby at the coupon game. But I am excited to say that in just one day of couponing, I scored some awesome deals! Seriously, getting these items for free or dirt cheap gave me a high like you would not believe. I literally had to make myself stay home tonight and not continue bouncing around the town's grocery stores, flaunting my new coupon skills. Check. Me. Out!

Store One: Target
Total Spent: $3.26

This was my first attempt at going in and using some 'killer deal' coupons. I had a coupon for more than the worth of the floss, so that was FREE! (Husband had to hear my squawk about the free floss all night, I was so proud.) The next killer deal- the Lysol Wipes. They were already on a great sale at $1.89, combined with a coupon for $1.50 off made them 39 CENTS! EACH! Dying!! Lastly the Dishwasher Powerballs. These weren't as cheap as the others, but still a fabulous deal. They started at $2.99 and I had a $1.75 coupon making them $1.24 a piece. These are de-lux, so I am happy about that!

Next up: Kroger
Total Spent: $11.15

Kroger is having a KILLER DEAL on General Mills cereal right now, buy 4 boxes, get a $5 gift card to Kroger. On top of that, there were a few cereals that were also on sale during the promotion- making it almost like a buy one, get one free deal. Combined with a coupon....dang good deal! I ended up spending about $1.15 a box. I have never paid so little for cereal before- including generic! LOOK at those huge boxes of cheerios! Can you tell I am puffed up in pride?

Last but not least, CVS.
Total Spent: $0.97

First I would just like to apologize to CVS for my past ignorance of their awesomeness. You can definitely score some incredible deals there, and they love to accept coupons. They give you coupons the moment you walk in, and also easy care bucks to come back and shop again. Combined with amazing sales and coupons...easy place to score a deal.

I got all of this (see that free floss again?) for 97 CENTS!!! Beaming! Love it! The toothbrushes were a dollar a piece (on sale from 5) and I had a buy 2, get $2 off coupon. So they were free. The dressings were the only thing I paid for, and they were about 38 cents a piece after a coupon.

I am really getting into the coupon thing.

Now, tell me. Are you a couponer? Do you love it? What sites do you love?

I still have some questions about coupons. My main ones are:

What is the difference in the newspaper inserts SS and RP compaired to the online SS and RP? Are they different?

On the show, how do people buy 100's of an item at one time? Every coupon I see says 'limit one per transaction'. Is this not a real concern?

I saw the advice that I need to look for the 'rock bottom prices' on the things I buy and never buy above that again. Are there any good sites that maybe have already compiled a list of sale prices?? Can you share?

Thanks for letting me have a moment. To say I was giddy about my savings is a total understatement. After seeing my cereal stash, my husband informed me that, "There is a fine line between an extreme couponer and a hoarder."

13 comments:

welcome to the coupon world!! A friend of mine showed me how to get Huggies Diapers for around $3 a package and I've been hooked ever since. The two websites that I love are www.hip2save.com, www.moneysavingmom.com, and savingcentswithsense.com They are very realistic with couponing and not going too over board with it. I love the show but I think its WAY extreme and not really practical for the average person. The nice thing about those two websites are that its not just groceries but clothes, jewelry, restaurants etc. I just bought Bambi DVD/Blue Ray combo pack through Amazon this week for $6.50.

A couple of answers to your questions there is no difference between the online and insert RP and SS coupons its just that you can print them for free instead of buying the newspaper. As long as they say manufacturer coupon on the top then you can use them wherever coupons are accepted. As far as the coupon limit it all depends on the store you shop at but our stores out here only allow so many coupons per transaction. All the websites I gave you show what a good price to buy items is and they also have a coupon database where you can enter the item you want to buy and it will tell you all the sources you can get coupons for that item. Pretty awesome!! Good luck and have fun with the shopping, its so addicting to save money!!

I meant "my" sister of course.......but in all fairness, I have been intrigued by this as well.....I saw that show and am astounded. It takes planning and time. And can be consuming.....but hey, figure it out and then give me your tips!

Welcome to my world :) There are coupons in the paper that cannot be printed. Plus you can only print 2 of one coupon per printer. I get 4 papers every Sunday. Love couponing. I can't wait to get my receipt and see my percentage of savings. woot woot.

I've been couponing for about 2 1/2 years now and it is awesome! However, like they say on the show, time is money. Be careful not to get too addicted or you will widdle away all of your free time. My favorite site is www.thekrazycouponlady.com It's the only one I use now. Unfortunately where I live now we only have a CVS and a small Target so I don't score nearly the amount of deals I was getting before. But like you said, CVS is great!

I found all these deals on www.myfrugaladventures.com. She posts the deals, along with the links to the coupons. Most online coupons, such as the Lysol and Reach coupons, can only be printed twice, so you can only take advantage of two...unless you print from multiple computers. Go to her site, search 'Target' and scroll through to see the awesome deals!

You go girl! It's addicting for sure. I go in cycles with it. That show i have a love hate relationship with. Clearly the shops are staged as most stores won't allow more than 2 or 3 coupons for a single item. And I equate some of the people to the hoarders show! LOL

you post this after I go to Target tonight and break the bank? I love the idea of couponing, but don't have lots of time and energy to put into it. Can you please just tell me what to do and I will do it. Nice work.